My heart stalls. Shock, anger, love, hate, surprise, and then combinations of those each try to take control, but none of them seem to know which emotion should be in charge. I stare at him, my mouth open and jaw on the floor. I now see why the desk clerk didn't want to take me to employee housing. I'm tempted to change my mind about firing her and Anna. They did good customer service by stalling, even if it was helping Christopher. Why is he here, though? Is this some kind of sick joke? I consider slugging him, but I don't know what good that would do. He takes a step forward. “I'm sorry, Nora.” I cross my arms. He doesn't get to break my heart and then just apologize and make everything better. I don't care how many flowers he brings. “What are you doing here?” “Apologizing.” He swallows hard and takes another step toward me, his eyes focused intently on me. “And if that doesn't work, I'm willing to beg for your forgiveness.” My feet grow roots to the floor. It's a good thin
Ten months later This hospital is freezing. You'd think since it's snowing outside they'd heat the building more, but no. I feel like I can practically see my breath every time I exhale. “Why is it so cold in here?” I ask Christopher. He smiles and shrugs out of his jacket. “Here.” He wraps his suit jacket around my shoulders. Even through my sweater, I can feel his warmth seep into me. I smile up at him. He grins. I love that he smiles more now. His skin is sun-kissed and he needs a haircut. He still shaves every morning, but sometimes he will skip a day or two just because he can. He shaved today because today is important. Today, we met his nephew. Deborah paces the waiting room, looking anxious and excited at the same time. She keeps checking her watch and mumbling about the time. The door opens to the hospital suite and we all perk up. “It's a boy!” Jonathan announces. He's grinning from ear to ear. I thought he had looked happy in the pictures of his elopement. I though
The man I love is getting married. And it isn't to me. I've been in love with Jonathan Lewis for as long as I can remember. I loved him as a girl. I loved him as a teenager. I loved him as an adult. I love him still. But he doesn't love me. In fact, I'm fairly sure he doesn't remember I exist. * * * “Something's wrong,” Julie says. “What?” I glance about, concerned and looking for something out of place. I don't see anything particularly wrong. I'm just sitting on the beach with a paper plate full of fruit like I always do after work. But, as Julie was my coworker up until an hour ago, I'm afraid she's going to tell me that there was something wrong with my job performance. She motions to the plate resting on my knees. “Something's wrong, isn't it? You've been here for ten minutes and you've barely eaten anything.” She frowns at me and then inspects the plate a little closer. “And you haven't eaten your mango. You never have uneaten mango.” I look down at my plate and see
I'm home. I feel it in my bones as the cab rolls past the immense iron gates. I hope that maybe I'll catch a glimpse of Jonathan. Maybe he'll be out in the garden and I'll be able to pass innocently by and say hello. It would be nice just to see him. The house comes into view. It's practically a castle. There are two tennis courts, multiple swimming pools, gardens, gazebos, patios, tea gardens, a koi pond, and a solarium. The house has sixteen bedrooms, a matching number of bathrooms, and three kitchens. The wine cellar is bigger than most houses. There's a good reason why this house needs a butler. The house is bigger and has more amenities than some hotels. The cab drops me off in front of the main house rather than the tiny apartment above the storage area. It's not a far walk, so I don't protest. I can pretend to this one cab driver that I belong here. That I'm not broke and from a poor family. I pay him, giving a good tip. As far as this cab driver is concerned, I'm the bill
The conference is packed to the point of being overwhelming. Every travel agent, hotel manager, social media guru, and everyone with an interest in becoming one is here with at least three others. I didn't expect it to be this crowded.Suddenly, I'm a little more nervous about my job prospects. I'm really good at what I do, but it's still hard to stand out in a crowd like this. How am I supposed to wow a company when there's fifteen other people trying to do the same thing?I attend a couple of sessions, and eat the conference luncheon, but I'm not really learning anything new. These classes are geared toward beginners, and I'm anything but that. There's only one more class for the day, but I can't really stomach the idea of sitting through another basic class on why having a social media presence is necessary, so I go out to the hotel lobby.The big hotel foyer leads to a bar and a restaurant as well as a comfortable seating area. There's a fireplace, but it isn't turned on since it'
I'm on cloud nine. If there were a cloud ten or eleven, I'd be on cloud fifteen. I'm going out on a date with Jonathan Lewis. The man I have loved since boys stopped having cooties. I'm positively giddy. He holds my hand as we walk out of the hotel lobby and across the street. My heels click on the sidewalk as we walk through the twilight. I see people look over at us and smile. I hope that they see two people who are meant to be together. The restaurant is way out of my price range. Most nice restaurants in the city are. Once again, I'm sure this is fate. The universe is setting me up for something amazing. Why else would I be wearing my best dress? Why else would Jonathan happen to be having dinner in the restaurant across from my conference. It's fate. It has to be. Jonathan goes to the check in desk and gives his name. The lobby for the restaurant is still packed with people, but the waitress simply waves Jonathan and me inside. I try to ignore the angry glares directed my w
I get to the hotel extra early the next morning, taking the first train into the city. I don't want Jonathan to see me leaving, so I make sure to leave well before he is even awake. I am excited about this surprise. I'm not sure how Jonathan is going to react when I tell him who I am. I hope he doesn't lose all interest in me once he finds out who I am. We had such a connection yesterday that I can't imagine that he'd be anything but excited. He's dated people not in his social sphere before. Still, I'm nervous. I barely slept last night and the few hours I did sleep were filled with wonderful dreams of Jonathan. For once, my dreams actually had some substance and weren't completely made up of conversations I'd wished we'd have. He isn't coming until the end of the day. I wish I had his phone number so I could tell him to come earlier. I hate waiting. The conference does nothing to help me pass the time time. I'm too distracted to focus on the classes. I make a couple of contacts,
Christopher sighs and puts his hands on the table. “No, he's not technically engaged. But he does have a ring. And he has asked her father for permission. He just hasn't asked her yet.” I sink into my chair, this news hitting me like a punch to the gut. “I think he has a fear of commitment,” Christopher continues. “He keeps pushing it off. He keeps finding excuses and looking for reasons to back out.” “So he lied to me.” I stare at Christopher's hands on the table. They are beautiful hands with long fingers and carefully trimmed nails. I'm waiting for the tears, but they haven't come yet. Perhaps I'm still just in too much shock. Maybe it's just the public setting. “Technically, no. He's not engaged.” I look up at Christopher. “But he really is,” I say. “He has someone who loves him. Someone that isn't me. He didn't tell me he was taken.” “Can you blame him?” Christopher shakes his head. “The man who can barely commit to wearing the same shirt an entire day met a beautiful, funn